Nanoelements have generated much interest due to their potential use in devices requiring nanoscale features such as new electronic devices, sensors, photonic crystals, advanced batteries, and many other applications (1,2). The realization of commercial applications, however, depends on developing high-rate and precise assembly techniques to place these elements onto desired locations and surfaces.
Different approaches have been used to carry out directed assembly of nanoelements in a desired pattern on a substrate, each approach having different advantages and disadvantages. In electrophoretic assembly, charged nanoelements are driven by an electric field onto a patterned conductor. This method is fast, with assembly typically taking less than a minute; however, it is limited to assembly on a conductive substrate (3). Directed assembly can also be carried out onto a chemically functionalized surface. For example, treatment to render a surface more hydrophilic can lead to selective assembly of nanoelements on the treated area (4,5). However, such assembly is a slow process, requiring up to several hours, because it is diffusion limited (6-9). Thus, there remains a need for a method of nanoelement assembly that is both rapid and not reliant on having either a conductive surface or a chemically functionalized surface.